Tin Snips
by lady of the realm
Summary: Different snippets about our favorite citizens of the OZ. In Chapter 4, a pleasant trip for the Cain family turns into a deadly trap.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: The Lady owns no rights to Tin Man, but owes much inspiration to the creative talents of the writers and to Mr. McDonough and Mr Cumming.**

* * *

**Cold Feet**

The queen tapped her ruby-encrusted slipper nervously on the mosaic floor of the royal cathedral as the bewildered organist flipped her sheet music to start the wedding march over again. The invited guests were murmuring, especially on the other side of the aisle. Several soaring musical cues had passed with no sign of the princess bride.

While over 1,000 pairs of eyes continued staring at the arch at the back of the cathedral, Azkadellia shot the queen a worried look. The queen lightly shrugged, maintaining a serene smile as a breathless Glitch clumsily slipped into the pew beside her.

"We've got a problem, Your Majesty," Glitch panted. He gave a happy wave to the puzzled groom.

"Where is she?" the queen asked with her plastered-on grin still intact.

"She's crying on a bench in the foyer," Glitch reported. "Cain is kneeling at her feet."

"Of course he is." The queen started to step into the aisle. "My baby girl has that Tin Man wrapped around her little finger."

"Wait." Glitch touched her elbow. "Give Cain a few minutes alone with her. I mean, it's not like we're all going anywhere, what now with the curiosity factor and all. This is _the_ biggest event in the OZ since you married a commoner. And there's a free bar. Oh, please don't tell me it's a cash bar..."

Out in the foyer, Cain tried consoling the princess, who had plopped down on the bench in a billowing puff of snowy taffeta and tulle.

"You're just having a few butterflies in your stomach, Kiddo." Cain affectionately massaged the back of her hand with his thumb.

"Butterflies?" The princess dabbed her cheeks. "They feel as big as mobats down there! Tell you what: push me and this dress through the front door and I am out of here."

"It's not your style to cut and run," Cain chuckled. "Besides, the queen would be all over me like stink on a Papay."

Cain grinned as he shifted from his knee to a seat beside the blue-eyed beauty. Wrapping an arm around her, he drew her into an embrace. She snuggled against his black dress uniform.

"Tell me the truth, Sweetheart." He tipped her face up. "Do you love him with all your heart? Because if you don't, I'm not letting you walk down that aisle."

With blue eyes as big as the lake at Finaqua, she quietly confessed, "I love him so much that it scares me."

Cain looked away as he tried to keep his composure. He was losing her to the handsome young suitor, a prince in his own right, who was probably wondering where his beloved was right now.

"I've been so wrapped up in wedding plans, cakes, flowers, who can't sit next to who, that I've forgotten about what I'm leaving behind," she admitted. I'll miss Mother, my big sister, Jeb and the rest of our eccentric, extended family..." Cain smiled. "But most of all, I'll miss you and the mysterious sense you have when I'm in trouble. When I've looked back, you've always been there behind me."

"Your husband will protect you, Sweetheart," he promised in a hoarse whisper. "I'll see to it."

"I'll miss the way you laugh at my goofy jokes when no one else gets them," she continued.

"Well," Cain admitted, "once you've traipsed the OZ with Glitch babbling at your side, you learn to appreciate goofy." It was her turn to laugh.

"And you never mind baiting my hook..."

As she poured out her feelings, Cain put her bouquet of pink teacup roses in her hand and escorted her to the arch leading into the sanctuary. He saw the queen and Glitch turn as an "Awwwww" went through the crowd. The bride was a fairytale vision standing beside the dashing Tin Man.

"The fish will always be there for you and so will I," Cain said. "Are you ready, Princess?"

The lovely blonde nodded, standing on tiptoes to kiss his damp cheek.

"I love you, Daddy."


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: Chocolate Kisses**

**Timeframe: Three annuals after the restoration of the OZ**

**Summary: Cain battles wills with another stubborn princess, new character Isabella Cain.**

**Disclaimer: The Lady owns no rights to Tin Man, but owes much inspiration to the creative talents of the writers and to Mr. McDonough and Mr Cumming.**

**Warning: Heavy fluff. Perhaps blowing and drifting.**

* * *

**Chocolate Kisses**

The struggle was getting downright dirty. Wyatt Cain gently pried the melting candy from the princess' fist, but the outraged little girl stubbornly refused to surrender her treat.

"No, mine!" Isabella Cain protested, her dark curls flying as she defiantly twisted her head back and forth, smearing a chocolate streak on Cain's clean, white shirt.

"Thanks, Kiddo," Cain said, assessing the stain. "Now there's hard evidence that I haven't done a very good job watching you."

"Bell-wah's chock-it!" From her high chair perch, Isabella stretched her chubby arms, but couldn't reach the gooey blob that Cain shook from his fingers onto his breakfast plate.

"I know it's Bella's chocolate, but where did Bella get it her 'chock-it'? Not talking, huh?" He tried not to be swayed by the pout on her rosebud lips, but he couldn't resist a smile. "Nice touch, Kid. You know I'm a sucker for a pretty face."

When DG headed out a week ago for the dedication of a new school and children's hospital, she left him in charge of their daughter, which wasn't especially difficult considering Isabella had an adoring nanny and a nurse. His primary responsibilities were getting her up in the morning, tucking her in at night and whatever else he wanted to do with her in between. Being on candy patrol, he hadn't counted on.

"Your mother is gonna take a stick to me when she hears that your new word is 'chocolate.'" Cain frowned as he wiped his hand on a linen napkin.

Somehow, Bella had gotten her hands on chocolates several times. The candy often mysteriously appeared at breakfast time, usually during the brief period when he met Ross Canin, an intelligence officer, at the kitchen door to receive a risk-assessment report.

"Morning, Father," greeted Jeb, smiling at the chocolate smudges on Isabella's cheeks and the slobbery chunk on Cain's plate. "So, Sweet Pea, are you still giving our old man fits about apprehending the Chocolate Fairy?"

The toddler slung a spoonful of scrambled eggs on the floor. "Bell-wah's chock-it! Mine!"

"Hummm," contemplated Jeb, munching on a neglected bacon slice that he snatched from Cain's plate. "Wonder where she gets her temper from? Has to be DG's side of the family. Maybe Aunt Az?"

Cain growled. Jeb smothered a laugh as Isabella growled back.

"I've questioned Glitch, Azkadellia and Raw," Cain said. "They claim that they don't know anything about the candy. Even the servants deny seeing anything."

"Huh, what's the OZ coming to when you can't squeeze a confession out of anyone?" Jeb waved the bacon strip at his father. "Sounds like a conspiracy to me. Might go all the way to the top."

Cain rolled his eyes at the sarcasm and leaned over to pick egg off the carpet. Meanwhile, Jeb grabbed up a warm plate from the buffet and starting piling on sausages and pastries.

"The fairy came a little earlier today," Cain said, aggravated that someone had access to his child and no one else seemed overly concerned. "Usually it's not until around five till, when Canin shows up with my report, but someone slipped in early and gave Bella the chocolate while I was getting her more juice from the kitchen."

"You leave Bella alone?" Jeb asked in alarm.

Cain took offense at the question, feeling guilty at the same time because evidently he was incapable of protecting this child, too. "It's only for a few moments, Jeb. She's strapped in the high chair. I cut her food up in itty bitty chunks so she won't get choked." Cain pressed two fingers from each of his massive hands together to demonstrate the size of Isabella's bites. "I let the cooks know before I step out of the room. They lean their heads in every few seconds... And, what am I doing? I'll have this argument with you when you have kids of your own."

Both men fell silent. The old mantle clock's tick and Jeb's slurping his coffee were the only sounds breaking their truce until the clicking of a woman's heels perked their ears. Isabella squirmed in her high chair, banging her spoon with glee.

"Father, it's five till," Jeb whispered.

Cain motioned for Jeb to follow him. "Maybe the fairy is going to strike twice." The Cain men hid on opposite sides of the large arch connecting the small dining area to a sun room off the kitchen.

The queen glided into the room. "What a glorious surprise, seeing my angel twice this morning," she said, brushing Isabella's dark curls with her fingers. Cain and Jeb exchanged grins.

"My special meeting this morning was special if only for the fact that it was brief." The queen daintily swiped a slice of bacon from Cain's plate. "Now your Grandmummy is required to be at her regularly-scheduled, boring meeting. I'd much rather stay and play with you."

The queen kissed Isabella and started out the door.

"Chock-it!' Isabella squealed. Cain smirked and shook his head. With the culprit caught dead to rights, he started to emerge from his hiding spot, but Jeb waved for him to stay in position.

"Chocolate? Well, I suppose another one wouldn't hurt anything." The queen fished a chocolate from her pocket, unwrapped it, and placed the dark nugget in her open palm. "Here it is, my angel."

Isabella pointed a grubby finger toward the chocolate. Cain's jaw dropped. The candy lifted off the queen's palm, started spinning and then floated across the room to Isabella's hand.

"Mmmmmm, chock-it." Isabella popped the candy in her mouth and giggled.

"Your mummy will be so surprised to see Isabella's new talent," the queen said. "Tutor will be quite amazed, too." Isabella blew her grandmother a chocolatey kiss as the queen left for her meeting.

Jeb watched as the color drained from his father's naturally-pale face. Cain's lips went white, too.

"Father, are you okay?" Jeb eased him down to the floor. _Not having a coronary? A stroke?_

"Huh?"

"I asked if you are alright, Father? Any chest pains? Trouble breathing?"

"Uh, no, I'm, I'm good, Son." Cain shook his head, awed by the feat that he'd just witnessed, proud of his part in Isabella's creation, and humbly afraid of being the protector of yet another magically-gifted princess.

Isabella grinned as Jeb helped their father up from the floor, raising her spoon up like a scepter.

"Mo chock-it!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: A Half Makes Whole **

**Characters: Jeb Cain and original character Isabella Cain.**

******Disclaimer: The Lady owns no rights to Tin Man, but owes much inspiration to the creative talents of the writers and to Mr. McDonough and Mr Cumming.**

* * *

**A Half Makes Whole**

Sharp pain ripped down Jeb Cain's arm, a souvenir from sleeping too many nights under the blanket of moonlight on a lumpy mattress of unforgiving ground. He dared not move, but he couldn't hold his position much longer. Carefully, he tried shifting the limp bundle onto the plaid picnic blanket beneath them, but the sleepy little princess protested.

"No, Deb," she whined softly, latching onto his tunic. "Hole on Bell-wah."

Remarkably fluent in little Princess Isabella Cain-talk, the interpretation was easy. "No, Jeb! Hold on to Bella," his baby sister had commanded.

Though they didn't share the same mother, Jeb had long since stopped thinking of Isabella as a "half-sister." The word really didn't sit too well with him anymore. How could a child be called a "half" when she completed so many lives?

Cradling Bella in lean, muscular arms, Jeb gently turned her toward him. His hazel eyes softened, seeing his own reflection in the sky-blue ones lighting up the bisque face framed by a riot of loose, dark curls. The child quickly returned his crooked grin.

"Bella, my girlfriend is gonna be downright jealous if she ever finds out how much I let you boss me around."

Jeb laughed out loud, then sheepishly looked around to see if anyone had overheard him. His father and DG had left him with Bella while they wandered into the woods in search of black raspberries for one of the cook's delectable cobblers. At least that was their excuse.

Checking the timepiece on his wrist, he said, "It's been almost 50 minutes, Bella. Your folks had better come back with a bunch of raspberries." He gave a wink as he tweaked her button nose.

Almost three annuals ago, Jeb would have accused someone of smoking dried papay dung if they'd told him that he would eventually accept his father's second marriage. A deep resentment festered inside him, watching his father move on with his life, while he doubted that any good would ever come of his own.

His mother's murder was still painfully fresh in his mind back then. Right before the royal wedding ceremony, which he boycotted, Glitch and Raw unsuccessfully tried to make him understand that his father mourned his mother for eight annuals in the iron suit. In reality, her grave was scratched out with a busted shovel, a rusty can and his own bare hands just a few months before the Dark Tower offensive. But to continue condemning his father's new-found happiness, Jeb later came to realize, was cruel to the little girl who had brought so much joy.

* * *

After Isabella's birth, his father sought him out one day while he was grooming his horse in the stable.

Cain stood at the door, blocking the exit with his imposing form. "It's been almost a month, Jeb. Don't you think it's about time you got acquainted with your little sister?"

"Been busy." Jeb hung the curry comb on a nail in the wall. "Some of us have to work for a living."

"She needs you to be in her life." Cain all but pushed the baby into Jeb's reluctant arms.

"Yeah, right," Jeb scoffed. "She doesn't need me."

Cain clamped his mouth shut, refusing to argue with his son like usual. When DG pointed him toward the stables, she had begged him to listen for a change so that maybe Jeb would "open up," whatever that meant. Then DG muttered something about how the Cain men's "emotional walls" were harder to breach than the Dark Tower.

"Why do you feel that way, Son?" Cain inwardly cringed. It was kind of a sensitive-sounding question, but one that DG insisted that her smart friend, Oprah, would have asked.

"This baby is heiress to palaces in Finaqua and the Northern Isle." Jeb shifted the baby to a more secure position in his arms. "She has a mommy who can make everything better by twitching her fingers, a daddy who'll keep her from even stubbing a toe. Heck, I'll probably bow to her as queen someday."

That was it, Cain realized. Jeb not only disapproved of his marriage, but was also jealous that Isabella had the kind of family that he had deserved, that he lost.

"Son, you'll always have a special place in my heart as my firstborn." Cain squeezed Jeb's forearm. "Across the OZ, you're practically a folk hero, a decorated commander before the age of 18. You're the kind of son that makes other fathers envy me."

Surprisingly flattered, Jeb smoothed Bella's blanket. "I'll put money down that you're not very proud of me right now."

"Jeb, I didn't come to pick another fight," Cain said. "I came because you understand how fragile life can be in the OZ."

"Yeah, and we've got the scars to prove it," quipped Jeb as he pulled back the crocheted lace on Isabella's pink blanket just enough to satisfy his curiosity. Silvery-blue eyes. She was definitely her father's daughter.

"Scars?" Cain cocked an eyebrow. "You know, we could strip down to our skivvies and compare war wounds, but let's not provoke a riot among the womenfolk."

They both laughed out loud. It sounded strange to Jeb, but not unpleasant. Cain took a seat on a straw bale, then patted the empty space beside him. Jeb sat down with Bella still squirming in his arms.

"The OZ is still unstable," Cain said, his eyes focused on rifle beside Jeb's saddle.

"What's new?" asked Jeb. "Fugitive Longcoats, rebel wannabes and crackpot farmers are making my life fun."

Ozians were either angry that the queen didn't instantly restore a realm that took the witch 15 annuals to destroy or that Azkadellia never stood trial for her crimes. Several assassination attempts on the royal family had been thwarted, many still in the planning stages..

"One of these days, Jeb, those blood-thirsty idiots are going to get smarter," Cain said, meeting his son's gaze. "They'll figure out that they can't succeed unless they take me down first."

Jeb silently nodded, brushing Isabella's thatch of dark hair with his finger. "You're probably right."

"Realistically, the OZ is only a bullet or two away from civil war," Cain said. "Isabella would be living the hell that you did."

"No, no way," said Jeb, recalling scenes witnessed during his childhood. Insulted, he tried pushing Isabella back into her father's arms. "No way that DG's child would ever go hungry. Sleep in an old ammo box for a cradle. Crawl on a dirt floor with the cockroaches."

Jeb's head dropped. _Be chased down like an animal by a pack of perverted Longcoats. Hang limply from the tip of a bayonet._

Cain's hand hovered over Jeb's back. An unseen force stayed his hand from consoling his son. He looked up, silently praying to the Almighty that he wouldn't have to choose one child over the other.

Jeb grimaced as his personal demons threatened to expose his worst memories in the dark hiding place in his brain. Then Jeb felt something peacefully soothing -- Isabella's sweet breath on his cheek. He raised his head to peer into her innocent face. Her eyes, his father's eyes, studied him as if they were measuring him as a man. He leaned down so his cheek softly rested against hers.

"Son?"

"What do you want from me, Father?" Jeb looked up into his father's worried face.

"I need your assurance, Jeb." Cain closed his eyes. "If anything happens to me, promise that you'll be there for her. That you'll fight for Isabella."

"You have my word." Jeb laid his head against his father's. " I promise because of my sworn allegiance to the House of Gale. And because she's a Cain."

Sighing in relief, Cain wrapped his arms around his precious children, pressed a kiss on Jeb's temple and looked above, mouthing a heart-felt "thank-you."

* * *

Now almost three annuals had passed since the Battle of the Double Eclipse. A reasonable amount of stability had returned to the OZ, but, like Isabella, progress came in baby steps.

One of Bellas's first words was his name, if "Deb" counted as a word. Sometimes she toddled straight to him, all smiles and giggles, when he and his father entered a room. Their father seemed to get a kick out of that.

Bella reminded Jeb of the long-forgotten delights of his childhood -- making dandelion necklaces, watching a holiday parade and sharing a sticky lollipop. Now, mind you, he could've done without the pre-licked lollipop, but it was hysterical watching his laughing father almost fall off a pontoon because Bella shoved her slightly-used sucker into his mouth.

His baby sister taught him that his rough, scarred hands, once he believed only good for inflicting pain and death, were perfectly useful for tickles and Pattycake. She kindled in him a warm longing whenever he turned his horse toward home. Now he didn't fear contemplating his own future because he could see the potential of finding happiness, building a home and maybe having a little 'Daddy's girl' of his own.

Thrusting a thumb in her mouth, Isabella rolled in toward his chest to cuddle. "My Debby," she declared, patting him with her free hand. "Me wuv my Debby."

Jeb kissed the back of her dimpled hand as he noticed his father emerging from the woods, the suns' light gleaming on Cain's fair hair. He smiled, returning his father's wave as Bella's lashes fluttered, then her eyes closed again in peaceful slumber.

How did the Cains become such blessed men?


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary: A pleasant family trip turns into a deadly trap for the Cain family. **

**Characters: The whole gang from the mini-series, plus original character Isabella Cain.**

**Timeframe: Approximately four annuals after the witch's defeat.**

******Disclaimer: The Lady owns no rights to Tin Man, but owes much inspiration to the creative talents of the writers and to Mr. McDonough and Mr Cumming.**

* * *

**A Tale of Candy & Carnage **

Wyatt Cain's palomino whirled as his hand snapped up to deftly catch the projectile launched toward his chest.

"A peppermint?" he asked disappointedly. "Is that all you got?"

"Hey, that's all that the coachman carries." Jeb inclined his head toward a carriage several units back in the caravan. "The chocolate stash is back there with the queen."

"Guess this will have to do." Cain popped the mint into his mouth, savoring the coolness on his throat parched from eating too much trail dust. "Compared to me, I bet that you've put twice as many spans on your horse the last couple of days."

"At least," Jeb lisped, rolling a peppermint to one side of his mouth. "Isabella and I've been meetin' and greetin'. Already worked the line forwards and backwards three times today."

"Find anything interesting?" Cain shifted his saddle-weary back.

"Well, the color guard has lemon drops," Jeb reported. "Glitch loves those nasty horehounds, and Az, those hot cinnamon sticks that set your mouth on fire." Jeb leaned in toward Cain. "But the really luscious stuff is back with the horse master's lovely daughter. Man, that girl has the biggest, softest..."

"Jeb!" Cain shot a warning glance to Jeb, then tilted his head toward his son's riding companion.

"...Caramels," Jeb finished with a ornery grin. "Big, soft caramels, the kind with nuts."

"Gotta love a good caramel," Cain smirked.

Cain guided his horse alongside Jeb's to speak to Isabella, his daughter of over two annuals, riding in front of her big brother. His eyes glowed at the tyke garbed in a royal blue gown, with glossy, raven curls peeking out of her matching bonnet trimmed in the palest blue satin, the same shade as her eyes.

"What's that you're holding, Sweetie?" Cain could see that Bella was preoccupied with something large and round clutched in her tiny hand. "Don't tell me that it's more candy. Your mommy is going to tan my hide if you go ruin your teeth."

"It's a rock that she saw shining when we crossed that little ford back there," Jeb explained. "Glitch said it was crystal quartz."

Bella hoisted her treasure up for her father to examine. "Unka Bitch make Bell-wah's wok aw gone!"

"Do what?" Cain coughed and sputtered. "Since when did my baby get a mouth on her like a Longcoat? " He gave Jeb an accusing glare.

"Relax," Jeb laughed, waving for Cain to simmer down. "She told you that 'Uncle Glitch made Bella's rock all gone.'"

"Wok aw gone." A puzzled look crossed Bella's face. "Unka Bitch."

"Glitch did a magic trick and made Bella's rock disappear behind her ear." Jeb pulled Bella back closer to him. "She's still tryin' to figure out how he did it."

"That's nice, Sweetheart." Cain smiled at the tot, muttering, "Guess we'd better start calling the Zipperhead 'Ambrose' before she offends delicate ears."

"Quit worrying like some old grandpa," Jeb chided. "She's being a such a good, good girl." Bella's head twisted in her bonnet as she looked up, grinning in adoration.

"You know, you're pretty good with kids," Cain observed. "Maybe you should put in for the next nanny's position."

"I'd look prettier in a skirt next to the first one DG hired." Jeb pulled his pant leg up to display a pasty calf. "Her legs were hairier than Raw's. Is it my imagination or does DG get servants who, let me put it in a nice way, are homely?"

Cain chuckled. "Frankly, I've never spent much time thinking about it, Son. To me, all women can be beautiful in their way."

Jeb rolled his eyes. "That must be why the ladies moon over you."

"No, it's the hat," Cain winked, skimming the brim with a finger. "Women can't resist it. DG says there's a song on the Other Side about 'women go crazy for a sharp-dressed man.'"

"Whatever."

"Seriously, Jeb, thanks for watching Bella so DG can get some rest."

"No problem, my pleasure." He pulled a peppermint from his jacket pocket. "Do you think one of these would help settle her stomach?"

"It's not morning sickness anymore," Cain said. "That stopped awhile back. Now it's motion sickness from the rough trail."

"She had a perfect excuse not to come on this trip, being so..." Jeb dropped his voice to a whisper. "You know, pregnant."

"Yeah, well, as soon as she heard that the diplomatic summit was being held along the sea shore in Bolivar, she sent the seamstress in a tizzy by ordering her to make her a bathing costume to wear in public."

_"I'm pregnant, not infected with the plague." DG poked him in the chest with a finger. "So, Buster, you'd better hand me back my swimsuit if you ever hope to roam again where the deer and the antelope play. Get my drift?"_

_"But, DG, here in the OZ, mothers-to-be..."_

_"Wyatt, this tent awing is so modest that even the Amish and Pilgrims would laugh at me." DG yanked her prized suit from Cain's hand. "Go ahead and let them sound the whale alert. I'm hitting the beach."_

In the nearly four annuals following the Sorceress' fall, one of the queen's priorities had been to rebuild infrastructures and travel routes through the realm. The yellow bricks of the Old Road now gleamed again. New highways, or interstates as DG called them, were being constructed, with Central City as the connecting hub. For this trip, the queen's entourage could ride in comfort in her motorcade for three-fourths of the journey, but the last 100 spans were accessible only by horse.

"Deb?" Bella whined softly, tugging on her brother's jacket sleeve.

"What, Sweet Pea?" Jeb leaned down to listen.

"Gotta tee-tee."

Behind the child, Jeb hung his head in frustration. Even Cain's shoulders slumped briefly before he realized that he might upset or confuse Bella.

'It's not her fault," Cain said. "I would've put my foot down about holding off on toilet training had I'd known that we'd be going on this trip."

"That broken axle cost us two hours already this morning," Jeb said. "Another potty break is going to eat up another half hour."

"Easily," Cain agreed, "what with stopping the caravan, unloading the privacy curtain from the supply wagon, finding a suitable spot with no poison ivy or thistles..."

"...Checkin' for critters. Boy, I'm glad that I wasn't born with a thimble-sized bladder," Jeb said. Cain heartily agreed.

"The village where we're stopping for lunch is about 20 minutes ahead, but I'll bet that Bella's not gonna be able to hold it that long," Cain said.

"We're eating at the roadhouse in Gnaw Bone?" Jeb suddenly looked excited. "Ah, man! They got awesome cooks. That'll be our last chance to eat real man food before we hit Bolivar."

"Yeah, and if we stop for another potty break now, we gonna have to eat on the move or else we'll never make the Bolivarian manor house before the first sunset," said Cain, gauging the daylight. "I want DG and Bella to sleep in a real bed tonight, not a tent. And I'd like for DG to get a chance to go swimming before those Amish and Pilgrims come out to make fun of her in her new suit."

"Debby," Isabella whined insistently. "Gotta tee-tee."

"Shh, I hear you." Jeb patted her bonnet and pointed to a large clump of bushes. "Hey, Bella, why don't we just drop back and look at those pretty wildflowers over there by that nice, big, thick bush?" He clicked his tongue, turning his horse. "See ya, Daddy."

"Those are some mighty fine flowers, Jeb," Cain winked. "You two have fun."

Cain slowed his horse's pace, allowing DG and Azkadellia's coach to catch up to him. Behind the princesses' carriage was the queen's black coach, plain except for the House of Gale's crest emblazoned on the door. Glitch and Raw trotted behind it on horseback.

"Knock, knock," Cain said. He could hear the rustle of silk inside as DG slid a side panel open.

"Hey, Marshal Dillon," she smiled sleepily, stretching like a contented kitten in a warm sunbeam. "Is the hot, strapping cowboy looking for companionship of the feminine persuasion after a long, hard ride on the trail?"

"Morning, Miss Kitty." He tipped his hat with a devilish grin at his eyelash-batting wife, knowing how much she loved his indulging her peculiar Other Side fantasies. "A man gets mighty lonely on a cattle drive."

"Cattle drive?" A grinning Azkadellia unexpectedly popped her head out the window, too. "I didn't know cattle could drive." As DG giggled, consoling her beet-faced husband with peck on the lips, her sister continued, "If cows can drive, do they prefer automatics or stick shifts?"

"Errrr," Cain groaned in embarrassment.

"Shh, Wyatt!" DG pulled back. "Did you hear something?"

A commotion at the back of the caravan grew louder as one of the rear guards rode up, slumped over the saddle with an arrow in his back.

"Ambush!" someone cried.

"We're under attack!" Cain's voice boomed. "Close ranks! Sandwich the coaches!"

The usual emergency response was to encircle the royal carriages with the guard and their support vehicles and wagons, but with the trail being so narrow, the maneuver was impossible. Instead, the drivers of the wagons hauling the tents and provisions raced ahead to flank the two royal coaches.

"Isabella!" DG screamed as she threw open the coach's door. "Wyatt, where's Bella?"

"Shut the door and get down, DG!" Cain yelled as bullets sliced the air to his right, the same spot where Jeb and Bella had been just moments earlier. The blast from a shotgun struck the top right corner of the coach, spooking the horses and nearly unseating the driver, whose hands bled from the bite of the reins as he struggled to keep the frightened team under control.

"Where's Bella!" DG started to climb down from the coach. "Wyatt!"

"She's with Jeb!" Cain turned, panic ripping through his chest. "DG!" Her body was hanging out of the coach, her hand clutching the lever handle of the open door and her boot heel caught on the top step. "DG, don't move."

As the drivers laid cover fire, Cain leaned low in the saddle to catch DG while Azkadellia pulled on her skirt to keep her from toppling out head first. Tufts of padding flew as bullets pinged the door's cushioned interior just above them. Cain was able to hook an arm around DG's upper body enough to safely push her back into the coach. He slammed the door shut.

"Stay put, DG," he bit out as he returned fire with his .44. "I'll take care of Bella."

"Daddy!" Bella cried.

Cain saw Jeb sprinting out of the bushes with Bella twisting in his arms. Jeb lifted her onto his saddle before he quickly threw his leg over the horse.

Two gunmen firing toward the princesses' coach separated Cain from his children. He could see Jeb making hand signals. Jeb pointed to himself, twirled his fist above his head in a circle, pointed ahead, then shoved both fists forward. Jeb was going to take out riding cross-country toward Gnaw Bone to get back up.

As Cain acknowledged with a wave, a bullet ricocheted off the coach's frame, grazing his upper arm. Blood started seeping through his shirt and duster. "Go!" he screamed as Jeb hesitated, thinking about turning back to help him.

"Daddy! Mommy!" Bella wailed as the gunfire intensified.

"Let me out of here!" DG jumped at the door as Glitch clamored inside to help Azkadellia restrain her. "Glitch, move it or lose it! I command you!"

"Ignore her, Glitch!" Cain ordered while dispatching another attacker.

"But she's crown princess of the OZ!"

"And I'm the father of her children," Cain screamed back. "If anything happens to her, you don't want to answer to me."

Behind them at the queen's coach, Raw climbed in as Ahamo crawled onto the roof with a bolt-action rifle. The consort dropped to his stomach and took aim, picking off two attackers as easily as shooting ducks in an arcade.

"Right on!" Ahamo pumped his fist in the air. "We're tougher than Starsky and Hutch and SWAT combined."

Raw pointed to the floor of the coach. "Get down," he ordered the queen. "Raw shield."

As their horse raced away from the caravan, Bella turned around to grab Jeb, her fingers cutting into his lean waist. Another attacker screamed as a bullet met its mark.

"Hold tight, Baby," Jeb begged. "We're taking the shortcut."

Tree branches whipped at Jeb's face, cruelly yanking at his hair. He leaned forward in the saddle with one arm whipped around Bella and the other on the reins, making it impossible to draw his pistol to return fire. Dead ahead, less than an 1/8th of a span, he recalled an old trail from his days with the Resistance. It wasn't much more than a deer path, but it provided a straight shot into Gnaw Bone.

"Stop, Deb!" Bella let go of Jeb as his horse jumped a rotting log. "My wok!"

"Forget that rock!" Jeb caught Bella as she started slipping off the saddle, her bonnet fluttering to the ground. "Your mama oughta give you that big, fat emerald necklace if we make it out of here." He dared a quick glance back. Two attackers scrambled out from their hiding spots and headed for their horses tied to some spindly. young maples.

"Get the kid!" ordered the red-bearded leader of the ill-fated attack, now cursing himself for using an illiterate hilljack scout who couldn't read the crest on the queen's coach. With at least six of his men plugged with bullets, it was time for a change in tactics. Plan B was now ransom instead of robbery. "Don't let the brat in blue get away. She's the queen's grandkid!"

Ahamo and Cain looked at each other in horror, then unleashed their wrath. Cain dropped one gunman, barely old enough to drink, with the last bullet in his spare revolver. His father-in-law drew a bead on another, then fired, spattering brain and bits of skull on the remaining three attackers at the caravan, who retreated as fast as their nags would take them.

"Wyatt, go!' Ahamo jumped down from the coach's roof and headed for Raw's horse.

Behind Jeb and Bella came the thundering of hooves as the two attackers gained on them. Gathering the child tighter to his chest, he brushed his lips against her dark curls. Bella tugged on his red scarf, pulling him so close that her tear-dampened cheek touched his.

"Bell-wah scared."

"I know, Baby. So am I."

Bits of bark flew into their faces as bullets splintered the trees around them. As they neared a small clearing, Jeb's palomino screamed, his massive body jerking and shuddering underneath them as lead met flesh. The beast reared. Bella shrieked as they flew out of the saddle, Jeb twisting so her tiny body wouldn't be crushed by him or the dying horse.

The landing was brutal. Jeb heard the snap in his upper right arm before his shoulder rolled out of the socket. The pain-relieving darkness of unconsciousness tempted him as Bella fell hard on his chest, pounding the breath from his bruised lungs.

Bella rolled to her feet. "Up, Deb," she begged, pulling on his left hand. "Stop sweeping." Jeb slowly managed to get up on his knees, his gun arm hanging useless at his side.

"There she is!" the first rider shouted back to the other.

"The bad men are coming." Jeb reached his shaking left arm across his hip, wrestling his pistol from its holster. " Go, lay down behind that big tree. Run, Bella!"

With little regard to finesse, Jeb squeezed off a shot at the first rider, striking him just under the arm pit, not dead center as he hoped, but then he was never as good as his father shooting with either hand. The man fell off his mount, revealing the second rider drawing down on him.

Jeb fired again. The man flew off the back of his horse, landing with a dull thud on the forest floor, lifeless eyes staring at the high suns. Struggling to his feet, Jeb saw the wounded first rider trying to stand again. They both pulled their triggers, Jeb a hair faster. The other man crumpled, his bullet going high, glancing off the tree where Bella had taken refuge.

His adrenaline spent, Jeb staggered toward the tree, unable to fight the shock setting in from the trauma and overwhelming pain. The entire OZ seemed to be tilting in a shiny haze . He tried recalling his own name. Maybe if he did, he thought he'd understand why he was in the middle of the woods, holding a smoking gun.

"Help me, Debby!"

Turning, Jeb saw a red bearded man with one arm around the waist of a tiny girl in blue, using her as a shield. The girl flailed as she tearfully reached out to him. Red Beard pointed his revolver.

"What? Ain't got no more fight left in you, boy?" The laughing man pulled back the hammer as the light-headed Jeb drew a shaky aim. "You're taking all the fun out of it, just dropping you like a rock."

Cain, Jeb and Red Beard fired. In what order things happened next Cain couldn't remember, he brokenly confessed to DG later, because his brain locked up. Stumbling from the saddle, his legs gave out. His chest pounded, as his arms dropped to his side like they were banded with iron. In his mind, he started replaying over and over again what he saw as the agonizing final moments of his children's lives.

Bella's body had seized up when all three guns fired. Jeb fell. Red Beard's neck snapped back, a stream of blood pouring from his forehead. He collapsed backwards with Bella landing on top of him.

"Nooooo!" Cain cried out, his hoarse scream echoing back to the caravan. DG fell into her sister's arms, her sobs drowning out a faint cry in the distance.

"Daddy! Daddy!" The sweet voice sounded distant to Cain. "Daddy, lookey!'

Bella nearly knocked Cain over as she started climbing his frame.

"Daddy, bad man had Bell-wah. Make Bell-wah cry."

"Thank, God, you're alive." A sob burst from his chest. Still on his knees, Cain drew Bella up in a crushing embrace, dragging kisses across her chubby cheeks.

"Too hard, Daddy. Hurt Bell-wah!"

"Are you alright, Sweetie?" Cain lowered her to the ground and started checking for injuries. By some miracle, he couldn't find any.

"Deb hurt, Daddy. Deb sweeping."

Cain forced himself to look ahead. Jeb wasn't moving. Tears flowed unchecked as he stood, Bella still in his arms, and walked to his son.

Bella jumped from his arms when he fell to his knees beside Jeb. "Wake up, Debby!" She patted his ashen face as Cain rested his hand on Jeb's stomach, then laid an ear on his chest.

Cain looked to the suns. "Thank you." Jeb's breaths were shallow, his heartbeats fast and faint, but he was still alive.

"Son, please don't give up. Stay with us." Cain tenderly smoothed Jeb's clammy forehead with his thumb. "I love you. Bella loves you. She wouldn't be alive right now if it weren't for you."

"Wyatt?" Ahamo galloped up. "Is Jeb --?"

"No, he's still with us." Cain wiped his face on his sleeve, then started running his hands down Jeb's limbs, checking for bullet wounds and breaks. "He's out cold. All I can find wrong is his arm. It's broken, shoulder's dislocated." Cain stood and peeled off his duster to use as a blanket, which Bella pulled up to his chin while serenading him with her favorite song, "You are My Sunshine," which Jed always dreaded because she usually roped him into doing finger motions, too.

"Get a medic and the Viewer here ASAP," Ahamo shouted to approaching guard members. "And quickly assure my daughters that Princess Isabella and her father are alive and well." One guardsman raced back to the caravan as the others checked the two men that Jeb shot.

"Looks like you're hurt, too, Wyatt." Ahamo slid off Raw's horse.

Cain glanced at the blood-soaked sleeve . "I'm not worrying about me right now. Jeb's in shock." He looked down at Bella, still singing her little heart out. "Bella's seen too much here today."

"Wyatt?" Ahamo could see the torture in Cain's eyes as he stared off in the distance. He clasped his son-in-law's shoulder with a firm hand. "Wyatt, I know the tragedies you've endured would have broken weaker men, but right now you need to hold it together. Your son needs you. So do Bella and DG."

"No, I need them more." Wyatt hoarsely whispered, his stoic facade crumbling. "They're the only reason I wake up in the morning."

Behind them, guardsmen checked for pulses on Jeb's first two attackers. "They're history," one shouted to Ahamo, then muttered under his breath, "Guess they ain't no match for a wounded Resistance fighter and an innocent babe." He spat between the bodies.

"Daddy!" Bella smacked Cain's leg. "Deb's eyes!"

Jeb blinked several times, his gaze straying from side to side, unable to focus. "Keep singing, Bella," Cain caressed her shoulders, looking at Ahamo with renewed hope. "Jeb can hear you."

"Cain!" Glitch rode up with someone sitting behind him, a woman by the glimpse of her dark skirt. "How are --?"

"Great Gale, DG!" Cain raged, charging toward Glitch's bay. "You're going to hurt yourself and that baby if you, you... Your Majesty, I'm sorry." Glitch swiftly dismounted, then settled his hands on the queen's waist to help her down.

"Grammy!" Bella ran to her grandmother and Glitch.

"No apology necessary, Wyatt." The queen tugged the back of her skirt down. "I came to see if you and the children are alright."

"Unka Bitch!" Bella pouted to Glitch. "Bell-wah dropped wok!"

"You dropped your rock?" Hands on his knees, Glitch leaned down to her level. "My goodness! We can't have that."

'C'mon," Bella ordered, enlisting Glitch on a search through the grass for her prized stone. "We fine it."

Cain waved in a medic riding up with a rolled canvas litter. "You need to load and go with him," he said before spewing orders to the guardsmen behind them. "Start hauling those bodies back up to the road."

"If you will allow me, Wyatt, you already have enough to attend to," the queen pointed out . "Captain, have my coach readied as an ambulance to take Jebediah and our other wounded to Gnaw Bone. Load the miscreants into the horse trailers. Once we're in town, send for my special forces."

"Will we wait for them to escort us the rest of the way to Bolivar?" the captain asked.

"No," she explained. "I want a strike team to scour these woods and foothills, to clear out the scum that preys on good people. I want the mission completed before our journey home."

"Ohhhh," moaned Red Beard. "Have mercy, Your Highness --."

"What the --?" Cain looked confused. "How can he be alive? I put a bullet between his eyes."

Glitch squatted down and picked something up. "I'm not sure about that, Tin Man."

"My wok!" Bella jumped up and down, clapping her hands.

"Isabella, where did you drop your rock?" Glitch sat down in the grass and drew Bella near.

"Back 'ere," the tot pointed. "By Deb's horsey." The puzzled adults looked at each other, aware of the distance between them and where Jeb's horse went down.

"Cain, big fella." Glitch gave a lopsided grin. "I hate to be the one to break it to you, but your mite of a daughter has better aim than you. She's the one who saved the day."

"What are you talking about?" Cain stalked over to Glitch, who handed him the chunk of quartz. He frowned at the fresh blood on the stone, then cocked an eyebrow at his daughter, who shyly looked up at him for approval.

"I'd wager a few platinums that her rock is what put that goose egg of a hematoma on Big, Red 'n Nasty's forehead." Glitch looked smugly pleased with his detective skills. "Bella, did you make your rock fly?"

"Uh, huh." Bella's curls shook as she nodded, holding her arms out in a demonstration. "Wok make bad man faw down."

"Oh, my precious darling." The queen hugged the child as Ahamo's arms engulfed them both.

"Blow to your ego, Cain?" Glitch slapped his dumbfounded friend's back. "Imagine what she'll be like when she's a teenager with her full powers and your bad attitude."

"What's that, my darling?" The queen's lips quivered in mirth as Bella confessed something into her ear. "Tell your grandfather, too."

"What'd she say?" Cain asked.

"Well," the queen started, trying to keep a straight face. "It seems that our courageous heroine is in need of dry panties."


End file.
